The True History of Tom & Jerry:
or, Life in London
THE
TRUE HISTORY
OF
TOM & JERRY:
OR,
| Life in London, my boys, is a round of delight, In frolics, I keep up, both the day and the night, With my Tom and my Jerry, I try to “get best” Of the Coves in the East—and the Swells at the West! Such pals in a lark, we the Town can defy, O! Then join me in chaunting our precious Trio. |
BILLY WATERS.
| Mags came thick, this made him merry; Fortune changes in a crack— Folks they went t’ see Tom and Jerry, And on Billy turned their back. |
One notable effect of “Life in London,” particularly in its dramatisedform must be recorded. It broke the heart of poor Billy Waters, theone-legged musical negro, who died in St. Giles’s workhouse, whisperingwith his ebbing breath, a mild anathema, which sounded very much like:“Cuss him, dam Tom—meē—Tom—meē Jerry!”
Poor Billy endeavoured, up to the period of his last illness, to obtainfor a wife and two children what he termed, “An honest living by scrapingde cat-gut!” by which he originally collected considerable sums of moneyat the West-end of the town, where his ribbon-decked cocked hat andfeathers, with the grin on his countenance, and sudden turn and kick outof his wooden limb, and other antics and efforts to please, excited muchmirth and attention, and were well rewarded from the pockets of John Bull.
THE
True History
OF
TOM AND JERRY;
OR,
The Day and Night Scenes,
OF
LIFE IN LONDON
From the START to the FINISH!
With a Key to the Persons and Places,
Together with a Vocabulary and Glossary
of the
Flash and Slang Terms,
occuring in the course of the work.
BY
CHARLES HINDLEY,
Editor of “The Old Book Collector’s Miscellany; or, a Collection of Readable Reprints
of Literary Rarities” “Works of John Taylor—the Water Poet,” “The Roxburghe
Ballads,” “The History of the Catnach Press,” “The Curiosities of
Street Literature,” “The Book of Ready Made Speeches,”
“Life and Times of James Catnach, late of the
Seven Dials, Ballad Monger,” “Tavern
Anecdotes and Sayings,” etc.
London:
CHARLES HINDLEY, 41, Booksellers’